The Municipal Centre will provide the Theater Museum with more than 2,000 square metres for exhibitions and other activities. The public will be able to enjoy the world behind and in front of the scenes of a theater production there and in the adjoining Music Theater. Guided tours, interactive studios and exhibitions will bring the visitor in contact with theater makers from today and yesteryear. The Theater Museum’s collection which spans about four centuries of theater history will be placed in a contemporary context.

Welcome to the Stopera

The municipal chairperson for business and art & culture, Carolien Gehrels: "The Theater Museum is more than welcome in this place where art and politics meet. It matches our ambition perfectly to do more in the city with the building. In a period when there is less money for everyone, this is precisely the sort of solution which we are looking for. I am sure that the government will see it that way as well."

The Theater Museum will remain in the Stopera until 2016 but its stay will be temporary. This is entirely in keeping with the vision of the museum which moved from its permanent premises on the Herengracht in Amsterdam in 2008. "We’re not looking for a home for forever”, says director, Henk Scholten. ‘The aim is that the Theater Museum will move to another unused place or space in order to give them a public function again in collaboration with the neighbourhood or city. But this location in the heart of Amsterdam offers tremendous opportunities, of course."

Broad co-operation

The arrival of the Theater Museum will mean another crowd puller for the Stopera and will ensure that there is more buzz in the daytime. The Music Theater and its occupants – the Dutch National Ballet and De Nederlandse Opera - are therefore positive about the plans. However, the museum will also work with other nearby neighbours such as theaters, other museums and the theater schools. Agreement has already been reached with the academic library of the University of Amsterdam concerning co-operation with regards to the Theater Museum’s Media centre.

Application to the government and the municipality of Amsterdam

The Theater Museum was founded in 1925 and has been a part of Theater Instituut Nederland since 1992. Minister of State Zijlstra for Education, Culture and Science recently decided that the Instituut would not receive any more subsidy after 2012. Thanks to the public protests that followed, the Theater Museum will be considered for financial support from the government as a heritage organisation. The plan and the application for this will be submitted to the government and the Municipality of Amsterdam on 1 February. The Arts Council will advise the minister before the summer and the Cabinet will make its final decision known on Budget Day (Prinsjesdag).